Oregon Environmental

Council’s50th Anniversary

CelebrationFriday, October 5, 2018

6 o’clock Hilton Portland Downtown

921 SW 6th Avenue $175

join us for

please reply by september 4

RSVP at bit.ly/OEC50th

or return the enclosed reply card.

1968 Oregon Environmental Council is founded. Our first volunteer president began lobbying for the environment on behalf of concerned Oregonians across our great state. • 1968 Protected 100,000 acres of forest with Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Bill. • 1969 OEC hired the first full-time environmental staff person in Oregon to provide leadership on environmental issues and a consistent voice in the Oregon Legislature. • 1969 First conference on statewide Oregon environmental concerns sponsored by OEC. • 1969 Strengthened the Beach Bill, securing greater public access. • 1971 Oregon’s landmark nickel-deposit Bottle Bill adopted with strong citizen support led by OEC, reducing litter across the state. • 1971 OEC worked with the informal “Bike Lobby” to pass the Bike Bill, the first designated state funding for bicycles in the country. • 1971 OEC was the sole environmental group advocating for a state role in energy facility siting; the Nuclear and Thermal Energy Council was formed, allowing the state to drive nuclear facility siting. • 1973 Helped pass Oregon’s unparalleled statewide land use planning laws (SB 100), protecting Oregon’s farms and forests. • 1974 Successfully opposed plans for a nuclear waste dump near Arlington. • 1975 OEC sues to temporarily halt logging in the Bull Run watershed, source of Portland’s drinking water. • 1975 Secured National Recreation Area protection for Hells Canyon. • 1976 Protected South Santiam River from proposed Cascadia Dam. • 1977 Secured nation’s first ban on certain ozone-depleting chemicals. • 1978 Defeated proposed Days Creek Dam on the South Umpqua River. • 1978 Helped gain wilderness status for French Pete Creek Valley. • 1979 Plans for an aerial tramway in the scenic Columbia River Gorge are dropped after OEC opposition. • 1980 Crater Lake Wilderness Area bill is adopted with OEC’s support, adding 22,890 acres to Oregon’s national park. • 1981 Led passage of Oregon’s Safe Drinking Water Act. • 1983 Passed Opportunity to Recycle Act, guaranteeing curbside recycling. • 1983 Passed first in the nation legislation to set pollution standards for wood stoves. • 1985 Helped secure worker and community “right to know” laws that protect citizens from exposure to certain industrial chemicals. • 1987 Secured legislation creating Oregon Superfund Program. • 1987 Established Governor’s Watershed Enhance ment Board (now known as Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board), supporting the formation of Oregon’s first citizen-based watershed councils. • 1989 Led passage of Oregon Groundwater Protection Act, protecting a major source of drinking water for Oregonians. • 1991 Helped secure strictest law in the nation regulating cyanide heap-leach mining. • 1991 Secured the nation’s first law requiring state agencies to minimize pesticide use. • 1996 Led efforts to shut down Oregon’s last hospital incinerator in Northwest Portland. • 1998 Helped launch nation’s first for-profit car sharing firm. • 1999 Passed Pesticide Right to Know Law (the third such law in the nation) establishing public access to data about commercial pesticide use in Oregon. • 2001 Passed Mercury Reduction Act, including a first-in-the-nation phase out of mercury-containing thermostats, as well as phase out of mercury-containing thermometers, auto switches and novelty products. • 2001–2004 Mercury reduction projects swapped out over 3,000 mercury switches in cars, increased fluorescent tube recycling in targeted areas, and reduced mercury pollution from industrial boilers. • 2003 Secured Environmental Quality Commission adoption of new rules to reduce air toxics (e.g., benzene, formaldehyde); rules are a national model, going beyond federal requirements. • 2003 Passed first-of-its-kind tax incentive for insurance companies to offer Pay-as-You-Drive (per-mile) auto insurance. • 2005 Passed legislation banning two toxic flame retardants. • 2006 Won Environmental Protection Agency’s national Children’s Environmental Health Excellence Award for our Eco-Healthy Child Care pro gram that reduces children’s exposure to toxic chemicals. • 2006 Secured adoption of clean car standards to reduce tailpipe emissions, cutting climate pollution from new cars and light duty trucks by an average of 30% and cutting carcinogenic air pollution by up to 25%. • 2007 Phased out the Pollution Control Tax Credit, which provided taxpayer money to companies simply for their compliance with environmental laws. • 2007 Passed Renewable Fuels Standard to promote the development of local, sus tainable biofuels.• 2007 Helped pass Measure 49, a partial fix to Measure 39’s rollback of statewide land use planning. •

The stakes could not be higher. With all that’s happening right now, it’s easy to feel defeated. But this is not new—we’ve faced many challenges over the last 50 years. Today’s reality does not define who we are, it tests who we are. Our work defines the difference

between hope or despair. The

difference between a healthy future

for our children or a future threatened

by climate change, between a livable

state or rampant pollution that harms

human health.

We know that by choosing hope

and a better Oregon for all, we can

advance the solutions to the most

pressing environmental problems

Oregon faces today. We’ve done it

before. Let’s do it again.

A group of ordinary Oregonians came together—outdoor enthusiasts, conservationists, friends and neighbors—and decided to speak with one voice for Oregon’s environment and quality of life.

1968

Over the next decade, they

accomplished extraordinary things.

They championed landmark

legislation such as the Beach Bill,

Bottle Bill, land use planning and

the Bike Bill, and helped protect

special places across the state, like

Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area and

Hells Canyon Recreation Area.

They established a new way of

working, a new way of thinking

about Oregon’s water, air and land,

and how it should be protected and

shared with future generations.

Maradel Gale, first OEC President, talks with

Sen. Don Willner, 1971. The Oregonian

Secured National Recreation Area protection for Hells Canyon.1975 Folk singers

Pete Seeger and Jimmy Collier

rafted the Snake River in 1972 with

friends and founders of Oregon

Environmental Council. The event

helped elevate efforts to protect the

Hells Canyon National Recreation

Area, preserving 662,000 acres of

the middle Snake River ecosystem.

Jimmy Collier and Pete Seeger along the

Snake River, 1972. © Boyd Norton Championed

the Opportunity to Recycle Act, guaranteeing curbside recycling and establishing Oregon as a national leader.

1983It wasn’t an easy haul. Diverting

waste from the landfill and helping

Oregonians reduce, reuse and recycle

from their homes, took nearly two

decades to implement. In 1991, we further strengthened recycling

requirements by passing the Oregon

Recycling Act (SB 66), expanding

recycling across the state.

Early curbside recycling, David and Michela

McMahon, 1975. Cloudburst Recycling Inc.

Passed the Mercury Reduction Act, including a first-in-the-nation phase out of mercury-containing thermostats, as well as phase out of mercury-containing thermometers, auto switches and novelty products.

2001

Oregon became a leader in cutting

harmful mercury from our waste

stream. This act was a major step

in Oregon Environmental Council’s

efforts to protect children’s health,

as well as Oregon’s rivers and fish.

Protecting children’s health and Oregon’s rivers and fish.

Assisted in the launch of the first U.S. car sharing operation.1998 With two cars, an old

gas station on SE Division Street

in Portland, and the ingenuity and

support of people committed to new

ideas, car sharing in the United States

became a reality, first in Oregon.

Oregon’s first car sharing station, 1998.

Established Climate Change Integration Act,

Passed the Renewable Fuels Standard

Supported creation of the Oregon Environmental Justice Task Force

Reduced benzene air pollution by approximately 70%

Led the Carbon Neutral Challenge

setting science-based

greenhouse gas reduction goals

and establishing a statewide

Global Warming Commission.

to

promote the development of local,

sustainable biofuels.

to advise the

governor and state agencies on

environmental justice community

concerns, and to hold agencies

accountable to environmental

justice in their operations.

by helping to secure Environmental Protection

Agency regulations for gasoline

in the Northwest.

, inspiring

Oregon’s wineries to reduce their

carbon footprint.

2007

Biofuel production in Salem.

Carbon Neutral Challenge at Oregon wineries.

Climate justice rally at the state capitol.

Launched Renew Oregon, the most powerful grassroots coalition ever assembled in Oregon to campaign for climate protection.

2015This coalition amplifies the voices

of Oregonians by focusing solely on

cutting pollution and building a clean

energy future for the state we love.

Together we helped pass the clean

fuels program, double Oregon's

commitment to renewables, transition

off of coal power, and establish the

first statewide funding mechanisms

for transit—all while setting the stage

for putting a cap and price on climate

pollution in Oregon.

Friends and family stand at

a Renew Oregon rally in Salem.

Oregon Environmental Council celebrates 50 years of working for a better Oregon. We couldn't have done it without

you. Join us to reflect on our

achievements and recognize the

challenges and opportunities ahead.

2018Champions like you are the

force behind our work and have

been for decades. The evening

is not just about raising dollars—

it’s about making a difference.

The environment can’t wait.

See you there!

Because it’s up to all of us. Together. We’ve done it before. Let’s do it again.

With great appreciation to our early sponsors:

"Come Together" artwork derived from original watercolor by Aubrey Park.

you!Thank

2007–2009 20% of Oregon’s wineries reduced their carbon footprint through our Carbon Neutral Challenge. • 2009 Expanded first-in-the-nation Eco-Healthy Child Care program nationwide. • 2009 Secured legislative authorization for the Oregon Clean Fuels Standard, requiring oil companies to do their fair share to combat climate change and providing Oregonians with cleaner fuel choices. Ensured adoption by Oregon Environmental Quality Commission in 2012. • 2009 Passed legislation requiring least-toxic pest management strategies in K-12 schools and community colleges. • 2009 Passed legislation requiring accelerated replacement and retrofit of diesel school buses. • 2009 Helped pass the strongest ban in the nation on the toxic flame retardant Deca-BDE, adding to our victory in 2005 banning two other toxic flame retardants. • 2009–2010 Helped pass legislation directing the Portland region (and encouraging Oregon’s other major urban areas) to use climate-friendly transportation and land use planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. • 2009–2012 One-fifth of Oregon’s nursery industry reduced its carbon footprint by 20% through our Climate Friendly Nurseries project. • 2010 Successfully advocated that the Oregon Branch of the Natural Resources Conservation Service become the first in the country to include greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration in its agricultural programs. • 2011 Helped pass “Cool Schools” legislation spurring energy efficiency improvements and healthier classrooms throughout the state. • 2011 Passed a Multnomah County ordinance that bans the use of the toxic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles, sippy cups, sports water bottles and insulated water bottles. • 2011 Helped broker the closure of the Boardman coal-fired power plant—the state’s single largest emitter of greenhouse gases —twenty years ahead of schedule. • 2012 Secured a Green Chemistry Executive Order requiring Oregon to purchase less toxic products and eliminate toxic pollution. Secured similar policies in City of Portland, Multnomah County and regionally along the West Coast. • 2013 Established the statewide Pesticide Stewardship Partnership, which works directly with farmers and other pesticide users to reduce pesticide runoff into Oregon’s rivers and streams. • 2013 Persuaded Oregon Board of Agriculture to improve the Agricultural Water Quality Program, making it more proactive and strategic, rather than complaint-based. • 2013 Protected fish by helping incentivize irrigators and water users to return water to streams and rivers during the hottest parts of the year when fish need it most. • 2014 First nonprofit in Oregon to move our endowment funds into a 100% impact investment portfolio that divests from companies at odds with our mission and invests in corporations that excel at environmental and social responsibility. • 2015 Launched Renew Oregon, the most powerful coalition ever assembled in Oregon to fight for climate protection. • 2015 Passed the Toxic Free Kids Act, protecting children from toxics by requiring manufacturers of children’s products to disclose their use of toxic chemicals and to replace the chemicals most likely to harm infants and children with safer alternatives. • 2015 Led successful effort to protect Oregon’s Clean Fuels Standard, providing clean fuel choices, better air quality and climate protection. • 2015 More than 500 Oregon businesses signed the Oregon Business Climate Declaration, launched by OEC. • 2015 Joined with business partners to successfully pass energy disclosure benchmarking for commercial buildings in the City of Portland, giving a fuller picture of energy usage in buildings and incentives to increase efficiency. • 2015 Harnessed $1.5 billion of market demand for less toxic products to date through our Healthy Purchasing Initiative, comprised of counties, cities and large institutions that have committed to buy safer products. • 2016 Co-led the charge to make Oregon the first state ever to pass a law to go coal-free. Oregon will transition off of coal-fired electric power and replace it with clean, renewable energy, putting Oregon on the path to having one of the cleanest energy mixes in the world. • 2017 Funded ditching dirty diesel in 400 Oregon school buses, protecting children’s health. • 2017 Passed “Keep Oregon Moving” transportation package that includes first statewide funding—$1.2billion for transit, as well as support for bike and pedestrian investments and congestion pricing. • 2018 Clean fuels cuts 1.7 million tons of carbon in its first two years, the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road.

Oregon Environmental Council ItsYourOregon.org

100% post-consumer recycled fiber, FSC certified, manufactured with 100% renewable green electricity.

“You are, by accident of fate, alive at an absolutely critical moment

in the history of our planet. Anything else you’re interested in

is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air

and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something.”

—Carl Sagan